The Left Cheek Ass Clown for September, 2015

Yes, Dear Readers, two weeks have gone by and it's time to shower dishonor over the monumentally deserving

Left Cheek Ass Clown

for

September, 2015

With monumental ass-clownery running rampant in Congress and the wider political arena, it was difficult to give proper attention to deserving ass clowns in other fields of endeavor, but this time it was easy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, I give you the Left Cheek Ass Clown for September,

Martin Shkreli

Mr Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager and now CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, made headlines last week by announcing that his company, which recently purchased the rights to the widely-used drug Daraprim, was increasing the per-pill price of the drug by nearly 4000% ... from $13.50 to $750.00. 

Daraprim has been on the market for more than 60 years, and is widely used to fight a type of infection which often strikes persons with compromised immune systems (such as AIDS victims). The huge increase in the price of the drug would put it beyond the reach of many of the persons who most need it.

As you might suspect, Mr Shkreli came in for a great deal of criticism for the sudden increase, which he justified as necessary to make the drug profitable and to provide funds for future development of other drugs. He didn't help his case, though, when he called a journalist who pressed him for an explanation "irrelevant" and a "moron" who "doesn't check facts or think logically."

The enormous outpouring of anger over the move did eventually lead Mr Shkreli to announce this week that "We've agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a price that is more affordable," but without announcing what that new price would be ... and a statement released by the company on September 24 said only that Turing "will work with any patient, hospital, clinic and institution – on a case-by-case basis – to address any exceptions [to the new price] and help secure access to Daraprim."

For his greedy and unjustified gouging of patients who depend on the drug he sells, and for representing the worst possible caricature of the heartless, profit-driven pharmaceutical industry, Martin Shkreli is named as our Left Cheek Ass Clown for September, 2015. It's not easy to be more despised than the Ohio dentist who killed Cecil the Lion, or the average member of Congress, but Mr Shkreli manned up and made it happen.

Have a good day. See you back here tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo